photo credit: Rylee Bokesch
In his first year as head football coach, Wesley Schroeder would no doubt be characterized by how the team performed in the playoffs. He led his team throughout the regular season to an 8-2 record.
On November 8th, Orange was defeated by Upper Arlington during the second round of the playoffs. An overall record of 9-3, their season concluded with a .75-win percentage.
One of the best the school has had, the record served as a confirmation for anyone who had doubts about him being right for the job. One of the many reasons for Pioneers success is, “always showing up and being good teammates and just working as hard as they can,” Schroeder said, constantly attributing the highs of the season to his players.
During a mid-September game early in the season, the team, the team battled inner-district team Berlin after a hard-fought 31-21 loss against Gahanna Lincoln. The game against the Bears marked a monumental occasion, when Orange beat Berlin for the first time in school history – a win that Neers, young and old, had long awaited.
Orange went on to win four more highly competitive games in what is considered “the most difficult conference in Central Ohio,” according to Schroeder.
The Neers lost their last game of the regular season in a scrappy game against Liberty, heading into the postseason with a chip on their shoulder.
“We hope we have a sense of urgency, it’s not fun losing, obviously. The last time we lost, we played Berlin the next week and played really well,” Schroeder said, in preparation for the first tournament game of the season.
The boys have been in season since August and have been lucky to maintain a primarily healthy roster. With an extremely physical sport, and the extended season length, limited injuries are imperative to overall success.
“Football’s a grind. Once you get to this point of the year, it’s harder to keep up. Maintain that intention, intensity and focus and attention to detail. The kids have done a good job of fighting through the grind that is the season,” Schroeder said.
With everything on the line, the team took care of business in its game against Olentangy. Junior Treyton Schroeder, who was named First Team All-OCC his sophomore year, was a big component to the progress the team has made.
“It meant a lot to beat tangy knowing that was the only district team not on our schedule, it felt good knocking them out of the playoffs,” Treyton said.
After beating Olentangy, Orange was matched up against Upper Arlington for the regional quarterfinals. Orange and Upper Arlington played in the regular season on Oct. 11 with the Golden Bears leaving with one of their only two losses this season.
“We ran the ball on offense and slowed down their running game on defense,” Schroeder said, when discussing the team’s game highlights.
The matchup is expected to be close, with two highly competitive teams. Heading into the game, Orange is ranked third in conference, with Upper Arlington sitting at No. 1.
“UA lost to us and Cleveland Glenville but also beat Liberty, who was one of our losses. I don’t feel like this has much impact on the game because teams match up differently with other teams. This game is going to come down to who takes care of the ball and makes the most plays,” Schroeder said.
Orange and Upper Arlington met on Nov. 8, and the winner will advance to play either Olentangy Liberty or Groveport-Madison. Liberty is seeded first in region three and Groveport is seeded eighth. The quarterfinal took place at Orange, since it has the higher seed.
“UA is a very well coached team, who is very disciplined in what they do. It is difficult to beat a team twice, but we feel if we take care of the ball and make plays we will have a chance to get it done again,” Schroeder said.
The players have been working hard and are excited to show off what they’ve been putting to work in practice.
“Shout out to the whole team. We worked hard all summer and season to be in this position, and we are seeing the hard work paying off. We believe that if we keep buying into what coaches are telling us and just believing in our abilities that we can compete with any team we play,” Treyton said.
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